Putin continues lying about the Russian economy’s health while the Central Bank worries.

Vladimir Putin said that last year was successful for the Russian economy, and key macro indicators are positive. Russian budget revenues not related to the sale of hydrocarbons increased by 26% and exceeded their plan by ₽800B, and the banking sector feels “confident” and “has the resources to finance the economy.”

However, Putin admitted that inflation was “higher than forecast.” Putin claims that the budget deficit, 1.7% of GDP, is at an “acceptable” level and is several times smaller than that of Western countries.

However, according to the Russian Ministry of Finance, last year the budget deficit turned out to be 100% larger than the planned ₽1.6T. The National Welfare Fund’s volume of liquid assets fell to $37.5B, the lowest level since 2008. During the three years of the war, 66% of it ($76B) has been spent.

According to the Russian Federation’s central bank, exporters’ goods turnover collapsed by 19% in December last year. Net inflow from foreign trade decreased to $5.6B, the lowest since 2020.